Influential Women in IP: Changing perceptions inside and out

05-11-2019

Sarah Morgan

Influential Women in IP: Changing perceptions inside and out

Ros Lynch, copyright and IP enforcement director at the UK Intellectual Property Office

Ros Lynch, copyright and IP enforcement director at the UK Intellectual Property Office, speaks candidly to WIPR’s Sarah Morgan about being a black woman in the Civil Service and preparing for Brexit.

As a director in one of the foremost IP offices in the world, Ros Lynch has her work cut out. In addition to playing a vital role in helping the office prepare for a post-Brexit landscape and leading the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO’s) copyright efforts, Lynch is charged with IP enforcement in a world where everyday infringers are defiant and professional crooks are often one step ahead.

A certain level of stubbornness and doggedness doesn’t go amiss, particularly when it comes to overcoming obstacles. Lynch believes there are two types of barriers for women: those created by systems and processes and those you create for yourself.

“I’ve grown up hearing that as a woman you face barriers and, as a black woman, you face additional hurdles. You think you can’t possibly do things ‘because I’m a black woman’ and this makes someone like me doubly disadvantaged,” she says.


UKIPO, Brexit, gender diversity, equality, infringement, role models, minorities, Stonewall Workplace Index, BAME, STEM, female inventors, innovation

WIPR